Gathering mechanism for coal-loading machines.



l. F. JOY.

GATHERING MECHANISM FOR COAL LOADING MACHINES.

APPLxcATloN FILED A9613. 1911.

1,300,620., Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1. F.710Y. GATHERING MECHANISM FOR CGAI. LOADING MACHINES. APPLICATIONFILED AUG.?3, 191].

1930,6Q, Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOSEPH F. JOY, OF BELLE VERNON, PENNSYLVANIA. i

' GATHERING IltIECHANISM FOR COAL-LOADING- MACHINES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

Application led August 23, 1917. Serial No. 187,805.

To all lwhom. z't may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. JOY, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Belle Vernon, inthecounty of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Gathering Mechanisms for Coal-LoadingMachines, of which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements ingathering mechanisms for coal loading machines, and more particularlyfor that class of loading machines adapted to transfer coal from a minefloor to conveniently placed cars for transportation from the mine, anexample of which is disclosed in my pending application Serial No.132,17 5, filed Nov. 18, 1916.

, In the mining of coal it is customary to undermine the face usually toa depth equal, to the thickness of the vein, after which it is blastedby a charge of explosive. It is very desirable that the amount ofexplosive used be the very least necessary to loosen the coalsufficiently lto allow its removal. IVhen the work of loading the coalis done by hand, it is merely shattered and the miner resorts to wedgesand crow bars to win the coal from the semi-solid sta'fte which it is inas the result ot' a. blast rather than resort to heavy blasting which isattendant with great hazards. such as more or less disastrous mineexplosions. In the customary method of shooting the coal entirely loosefrom its natural bed down onto the Hoor of the mine, in addition toincreasing the hazards of mining, the value of the coal is decreased dueto the pulverizing effects of the excessive use of explosives. In somecases mechanical picks have been used to brcak the coal down which alsocauses an undesirable amount of tine coal and dust.

Heretofore, the gathering mechanisms of these machines have been of sucha nature that the coal to be loaded had to be entirely broken down fromthe face of the mine before they could operate toengage the coal andmove it onto the conveyer which transferred itto the cars.

It is the especial object of the present invent-ion to provide agathering mechanism which will not only move the material from the minefloor onto the conveyer, but also break down in desirable large lumpsthe coal which hasl been shattered but left standing after the face ofthe vein has been shot,

thus materially reducing the quantity of ex plosive necessarily used andrendering practically unnecessary the use of mechanical picks or thebreaking down of the coal by hand.

A further object is to provide a plurality of gathering membersconsisting in ointed angers so arranged and rotated as to e mosteffective in and have a wide range for breaking the coal down and thenmoving it onto the conveyer. A still further object is to provide ameans whereby the gathering members may be tilted or rockedto therebyproperly direct the same into crevices or an undercut in the face of thevein.

Vith these general objects in View and others that will be apparent whenthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which likedesignating characters refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views Figure l is a plan view of a fragment of a conveyer withone embodiment of the invention associated therewith.

Fig. 2 1s anelevational view of the devlce shown in Fig. 1, partly 1nvertical section and partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is a view similar to Fig. l of another embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 4, partly insection and partly broken away.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the slot 26 which allows verticalmovement of shaft25.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary det-ail view showing one of thebrackets 35 and associated parts, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing the slots 31 inthe flange 32 which allow vertical movement of the shafts 30.

In carrying out the embodiments of the invention herein illustrated, thegathering members are associated with the usual conveyer which transfersthe coal to conveniently placed cars. The discharge end of this conveyeris usually suitably supported the required distance above the floor andthe same extends downwardly as shown, being provided with a shoe portion6 adapted to rest upon and slide along the floor. The conveyer hereinillustrated is of the Wellknown chain and scraper type and consistsbroadly in side plates 7 connected by a floor or bottom 8 and apartition 5 and provided with inwardly projecting ledges or flanges 9,thusvforming guide ways in which travel the endless chains 10 which areconnected together at intervals lby transverse scraper bars 11. Thechains 10 go around sprockets secured on the head shaft of theconveyer., not shown, and also around the sprockets 12 secured to thelower conveyer shaft 13, power being applied in any desired manner tothe head shaft to operate the conveyer.

Referring to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,the numeral 14 designates a shaft which may be rotated by any suitablemeans, such as by gearing tothe head shaft ofthe conveyer, not Shown,and this shaft 14 has a spur gear 18 secured to the end thereof whichextends through and is journaled in the flange or partition 15 extendingtransversely of and upwardly from the shoe G. Parallel with the flange15 and spacedv therefrom is another flange 16 whose upper portion 17extends rearwardly as best shown in Fig. 2. Journaled in the partitions15 and 16 are a plurality of parallel shafts 19 and Secured upon theseshafts between the partitions 15 and 16 are a plurality of intermeshingspur gears 20, one of which meshes with gear 18 as shown in Fig. 1. ItwillA thus be seen that the gear casing including the rearwardlyextending portion 17 of the flange 16 effect-uallyassists in preventingcoal from getting to and clogging or otherwise interfering with ordamaging the gears 18 and 20.

A plurality of pointed and slightly tapering spiral augers 21 aresubstantially horizontally arranged in concave portions 22 in the upperface of the forward or apron portion of the shoe 6 and all but one ofthese augers are carried by the shafts 19, that one being carried by theshaft 14 as shown in Fig. 1. A very important consideration in thearrangement of the augers 21 -lies in the fact that a considerableportion of all of them extends a material distance beyond the free endof the shoe 6, thus enabling the same to be easily pushed into the coalor into a crevice or undercut in the face of the vein. In this form ofthe invention the augers are alternately of right and left hand pitchand one auger of each pair will be rotated in a direction toward theother auger of each pair as indicated by arrows in Fig. 3. This providesan ideal gathering and conveying arrangement whereby the coa-1 will notbe thrown off to the sides of the conveyer as the auger at'leach side ofthe shoe 6 is rotated in a direction toward the center of the conveyer.

Briefly described, the operation of this form of the invention is asfollows:-

The face of the vein having been undercut and blasted with a smallquantity of explosive, the machine equipped with this gatheringmechanism is moved forward and the augers pushed into the undercut toengage the coal. 'Rotation is then imparted to shaft 14 and to theaugers 21 through the gears 18 and 20 as before described and saidaugers will bore into and tear away and break down the coal in desirablesizes with a wedge-like action. As the coal is broken down, the augersmove it rearwardly onto the conveyer which delivers it into convenientlyplaced cars as is well-known in the art. This operation is repeateduntil coal has lbeen broken away and gathered across the entire workingface.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 to 8 the lowerconveyer shaft 13 has its ends extended through the side plates 7 andsecured thereto are spur gears 23 which mesh with spur gears 24 securedupon and near the ends of the transverse shaft 25 which extend througharcuate slots 26 in the side plates 7. Secured upon the shaft 25 are apair of oppositely disposed sets of bevel gears 27 and 28 which meshwith bevel gears 29 secured upon shafts 30 which carry the augers 21.The shafts 30 rest in slots 31, (see Fig. 8) of the flange 32 whichextends upwardly from the shoe 6 (see Fig. 5) and then rearwardly as at33 to house the gears 27, 28, and 29. The shafts 30 also extendrearwardly where they are journaled in socket portions 34 of bearingbrackets 35, (see Fig. 7) which loosely surround the shaft 25. At oneside of the conveyer, the adjacent ends of shafts 13 and 25 are looselyjournaled in and connected together by a link 36, (see Fig. 4) while atthe other side they are similarly connected by the link portion 37 of ahand lever 38 which is provided with a suitable latch 39 adapted toengage in notches in the quadrant 40 which is secured to one of the sideplates 7 as at 41.

In the operation of this embodiment of the invention, the conveyer isdriven in any suitable manner thus causing rotation from shaft 13 to beinparted to the augers 2] through the gearsr23, 24, 27, 28, and 29. Theaugers geared to gears 27 are of a lefthand pitch while those geared togears 28 are of a right-hand pitch and through the gearing described theaugers of each set are rotated in a direction toward those of the otherset and toward the center of the conveyer. By manipulation of the handlever 38 the rear end portions of the augers 21 may be raised as shownby dotted lines in Fig. by

lifting shaft 25 to thereby bring the rear portion of the angers up intocontact with overhanging material and breakdown and carr 1t away.`Otherwise the operation of thls form is substantially the same as theform shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

While the forms of the invention herein shown and described are thosewhich are believed to be the referred embodiments thereof, it isnevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

1. In a coal loading machine, the combination with a conveyer shoeportion, of a plurality of sets of substantially horizontal pointedtapering spiral angers arranged longitudinally of and projecting beyondthe free end of said shoe portion, t-he angers of one set being of avpitch opposite to the pitch of another set, means to communicaterotation to said angers whereby the angers of one set are rotated in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation of those of another set,and means to raise the rear end portions of the angers to simultaneouslylower the forward end portions of the same.

2. In a loading machine of the class de? scribed, the combination with aconveyer having a shoe' at the lower end thereof, of a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal pointed tapering spiral angers arrangedlongitudinall of and projecting beyond the free end o said shoe, meansto communicate rotation to said angers, and means to raise the rear endportions of the angers to simultaneously lower the forward end portionsof the same.

3. In combination, a'conveyer shoe portion having a transverse earcasing and an apron extending forwar y from said gear casing, said gearcasing having a vertical front wall provided with vertically elongatedslots, a plurality of substantially horizontal angers arrangedlongitudinally of said apron and having shafts extended rearwardlythrough said vertically elongated slots into said gear casing, anupwardly movable transverse driven shaft in said gear casing connectedVand geared to said anger shafts, and manually operable means to movesaid driven shaft upwardly whereby the rear end portions of said angersare raised and the forward end portions thereof are simultaneouslylowered.

4. In combination, a horizontal conveyer shoe portion havi a transversegear casing, a plurality I parallel substantially horizontal pointedtapering spiral angers arranged longitudinally of said shoe portion andhaving shafts extended rearwardly into said gear casing, and gearing insaid gear casing to communicate rotation to` said shafts. fr

5. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a transverse earcasing, a plurality of substantially orizontal angers arrangedvlongitudinally of said shoe portion and having upwardly movable shaftsextended rearwardly into said gear casing, gears on said shafts withinsaid casing, an upwardly movable transverse driven shaft within saidcasing connected with the an er shafts, gears on said driven shaftmeshing with sald gears on the anger shafts, and

means to move said driven shaft upwardly.

6. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a transverse gearcasing, a plurality'of substantially horizontal angers arrangedlongitudinally of said shoe portion and having upwardly movable shaftsextended rearwardly into said gear casing, gears on said shafts withinsaid casing, an upwardly movable transverse driven shaft within saidcasing connected with the auger shafts, gears, on said driven shaftmeshing .with said gears on the auger shafts, and

means to move said driven shaft upwardly whereby the rear end portionsof said angers are raised and the forward end portions of the same aresimultaneously lowered.

7. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a transverse gearcasingv and an apron extending forwardly from said gear casing, aplurality of substantially horizontal angers, arranged longitudinally ofand projecting beyond the free end of said apron and having upwardlymovable shafts extended rearwardly into said gear casing, gears on saidshafts Awithin said casing, an upwardly movable transverse driven shaftwithin said casing connected with the auger shafts, 'gears on saiddriven shaft meshing with said gears on the auger shafts, and

vmeans to move said driven shaft upwardly.

8. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a transverse gearcasing and an apron extending forwardly from said gear casing, aplurality of substantially horizontal angers arranged longitudinally ofand projecting beyond the free end of said apron and having upwardlymovable shafts extended rearwardly into saidgear casing, gears on saidshafts within said casing, an upwardly movable transverse driven shaftwithin said casing connected with the auger shafts, gears on said drivenshaft meshing with said' gears 0n the auger shafts, and means to movesaid driven shaft upwardly whereby the rear end portions of said a igersare raised and the forward end portions of the same are simultaneouslylowered.

9. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a transverse gearcasing, a plurality of substantially horizontal angers arrangedlongitndinally of said shoe portion and having shafts extendedrearwardly into said gear casing, gearing in said gear casing tocommunicate rotation to said shafts, and

means to raise the rear end portions of said augers to simultaneouslylower the forward end portions thereof.

10. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a gear casing, asubstantially horizontal auger arranged longitudinally-of said shoeportion and having a shaft extended into said gear casing, a gearing insaid gear casing to communicate rotation to said shaft, and means toraise the rear end portion of said auger to simultaneously lower theforward end portion thereof.

11. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a gear casing, asubstantially horizontal auger arranged longitudinally of said shoeportion and having an upwardly movable shaft extended into said gearcasing, a gear on said shaft within said casing, an upwardly movabledriven shaft within said casing connected to said auger shaft, a gear onsaid driven shaft meshing with said gear on the auger shaft, and meansto move said driven shaft upwardly whereby the rear end portion of saidauger is raised and the forward end portion of the same issimultaneously lowered.

` 12. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion having a gear casing andan apron extending forwardly from said gear casing, a substantiallyhorizontal auger arranged longitudinally of and projecting beyond thefree end of said apron and having an upwardly movable shaft extendedinto said gear casing, a gear on said shaft within said casing, anupwardly movable driven shaft within said casing connected with theauger shaft, a gear on said driven shaftA meshing with said gear on theauger shaft, and means to move said driven shaft upwardly whereby therear` end portion of said auger is raised and the forward end portion ofthe same is simultaneously lowered.A

13. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion, a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal augers arranged longitudinally of and pro#jecting beyond the free end of said shoe portion' and having upwardlymovable shafts, gears on said shafts, an upwardly movable transversedriven shaft connected with the auger shafts, gears on said driven shaftmeshing with said gears on the auger shafts, and means to move saiddriven shaft upwardly whereby the rear end portions of said augers areraised and the forward end ortions of the same are simultaneouslyowered.

14. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion, a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal augers arranged longitudinally of said Shoeportion, and means to raise the rear end portions of said augers tosimultaneously lower the forward end portions thereof.

15. In combination, a conveyer shoe por tion, a substantially horizontalauger arranged longitudinally of and projecting beyond the free end ofsaid shoe portion, and means to raise the rear end portion of said augerto simultaneously lower the forward end portion thereof.

16. In combination, a conveyer shoe portion, a substantially horizontalauger arranged longitudinally of said shoe portion and having anupwardly movable shaft, a gear on said shaft, an upwardly movable drivenshaft connected to said auger shaft, a gear on said driven shaft meshingwith said gear on the auger shaft, and means to move said driven shaftupwardly Whereby the rear end portion of said auger is raised and theforward end portionof the same is simultaneously lowered.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOSEPH r. Jor.

